Jony Ive Helps Design the Most Gorgeous Leica Camera Ever

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Jony Ive Helps Design the Most Gorgeous Leica Camera Ever

The designers went through more than 550 models before they made the final product.

If you’ve ever wanted a custom-designed Leica camera from Jony Ive and Marc Newson, you now have a chance to get one. Like, literally one chance. The team of super-designers created an exclusive Leica Digital Rangefinder that will be sold at the (RED) Auction on Nov. 23 for what promises to be an absurd amount of money. Proceeds will go to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

The camera is a super-sleek update to the Leica M, the brand's digital camera that was first introduced in 2012. Leica's typically rough-textured exterior has been replaced by a laser-machined anodized aluminum body that’s reminiscent of a MacBook Air. Getting there was incredibly complicated: The mesh on the camera's body apparently has 21,000 perforations, and there's a careful system of rounded forms that makes the whole thing look harmonious. That has an Ive-ish ring to it: One reason that your iPhone or your MacBook look so refined is that Ive is insanely careful about creating systems of circle radii that make every line look good with every other.

The camera is a perfect love child of Ive's harmonious shapes and Newson's edgeless, biomorphism aesthetic. In fact, the camera is so perfectly smoothed out that it almost appears toy-like—or at least how we might imagine an iCamera might look. Inside the body you’ll find the standard guts, which is to say you’ll find the mechanics of a very nice camera. The special edition features a full-format CMOS sensor, high-performance processor and new Leica APO-Summicron –M 50mm f/2 ASPH lens.

Details on how the camera was made are scarce, but we do know that the final product took 85 days and more than 735 hours to manufacture, during which more than 550 models and 1,000 prototype parts were made and tested. Perfectionism dies hard, I guess. We have no idea how much this will go for, but considering a standard Leica M will cost you upwards of $7,000, it’s safe to assume this limited edition would put a dent even in Sir Jony's wallet.